If I were Timothy #11: thanksgiving

INTRODUCTION

Last month, we journeyed through the book of 1 Timothy, a letter written by Paul directly to his protégé Timothy.

Just a reminder of who Timothy was –

Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek.  Acts 16:1

After Paul had visited Lystra, Timothy became his companion and co-worker along with Silas. Timothy then travelled around with Paul, who became his mentor. Paul trusted him to carry out important work.

During the month, I imagined how I would have reacted to this letter from Paul if I were Timothy. You can read the whole of that response here. I’d have been blown away – and now here I am, receiving another letter from Paul addressed directly to me! This letter is traditionally considered to be the last one Paul wrote before his death.

So let’s unpack it together, imagining each day who Timothy would respond.

PASSAGE

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,

To Timothy, my dear son:

Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.  2 Timothy 1:1-5

RESPONSE

Dear Paul,

I love how you always start with thanksgiving – it’s such a great place to start. It’s good to remind ourselves that whatever we are going through right now and whatever we will have to face in the future, we always have so much to be thankful to God for.

I thank God for you too. You are like a father to me. You are my father in the faith. You’re right, my mother and grandmother are incredible women of God and gave me a firm foundation of faith, that’s for sure. But it was you that believed in me enough to honour God’s calling on my life and allow me to travel and work with you. Yes, I’m always sad to leave you miss you so much when we’re apart – and yes, I do cry sometimes and that’s OK. I chuckle to myself and tell myself that I’m a great example of how it’s OK for men to cry!

The greatest thing we have to be thankful for is that promise of life in Christ Jesus, isn’t it? Without a faith in Jesus, we are never truly alive, never living our best life. God has called me to live that life of following Jesus and to share about that life with others. And so, however tough it gets, I remind myself that that is the will of God for my life and that He is the provider of all the grace, mercy and peace I need every single day.

Paul, you are an inspiration. You are right to have a clear conscience as you look back over your walk with God and what you have achieved. You have been a shining example to me of how it is done. I hope that I, too, will lead my life in such a way that I can regret nothing.

Thank you for this letter, Paul – you have no idea what it means to me right now!